Automatic record changers



June 5, 1956 E. BACHER AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGERS Filed Nov. 7, 1951 INVENTOR Eric Backer.

ATTORN Y United States Patent AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGERS 'Eric Bacher, Yverdon, Switzerland, assignor to Paillard S. A., Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, a company of Switzerland Application November 7, 1951, Serial No. 255,166

Claims priority, applicationswitzerland December 22, 1950 2 Claims. '(Cl. 274-10) Talking machines with an automatic changing of discs are generally provided with a device which produces the stopping-of the machine when all the discs have been played. lnthe known devices, a feeler comes to rest on the pile of discs to be played. When the last disc or the pile has dropped on to the turntable for being relayed, the feeler descends in such a manner as to be in position for controlling the stepping of the talking machine when the disc has been played. The construction of these devices is "complicated and the 'feeler obstructs the withdrawal or" the "discs. Further this does not have a very good appear- :ance.

The invention has for its subject a "talking machine with an automatic changing'of discs, comprising a rod passing through the centre of the discs in reserve piled above the disc turntable, at least one oscillating pawl being mounted on said rod for controlling the fall of the discs. This talking machine tends to remedy the aforementioned disadvantages and is distinguished from "kllGW-n machines by the fact-that means are provided for locking the oscillating pawl when the last disc has been played, a control device for stopping the machine, rendered operative by the lockingof the said pawl, being actuated by the mechanism for controlling the fall of the discs, so to cause the 'machine to stop when the pawl is locked by the said means.

The description which follows indicates, by way of ex- "ample and with reference .to the accompanying drawings, one form of construction of the --sub,iect of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically the principal members of a'talking machine.

Fig. 2 shows in plan a detail of Fig. l.

A disc turntable l is mounted in a pivotal manner, by means of a ball bearing 2 on a baseplate 3. A supporting and guiding rod 4 for the discs passes through abore provided in the turntable l and abuts by its lower part against ,a right-angle bracket .5 secured to the base plate "3. A coiled spring 6 is arranged coaxially around the lower end of the rod 4. The central part and the upper part do of the rod 4 are arranged eccentrically relatively to one another, thus forming a shoulder 11 for supporting the discs to be played and which are adapted to be fed successively on to the turntable l. The spring 6 operates under compression and bears at one end against the base-p'late 3 and at-the other end against a bell crank lever 7, secured in a pivotal manner to the end'of the rod -45. The action of the spring 6 therefore tends to press the rod against the bracket forming a stop. The central :part of the rod 4 carries a pawl .8, pivoted rat 9 .androf which the free endis slightly above the shoulder 11. A balancing plate 10 slides on the upper part la of the rod 4. A toothed wheel '12 is secured to .th'e'turntable It and may be placed into engagement with 'a toothed wheel 13 secured to one end of a shaft 14. This shaft is pivoted in 'a bearing 15 which is secured tothe base 'plate '3, and carries at its other end a cam '16. A knee lever 17, pivoted at '18, is in contact at one end with the cam 16 and at the other end with a rod 19 sliding in the interior of the rod 4 and which enables 'themovements of the pawl 8 to be controlled. A stop 26 is secured to the cam 1.6.

The pawl 8 controls the successive fall of the discs on to the turntable and it .forms, with the balancing plate ill and the rod 39, a device for controlling the stopping of the machine, remaining inoperative when at least one disc rests on the shoulder 11, but is rendered operative, after the .fall of the last disc, by the locking of thepawl '8 by the balancing plate 10.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows:

When a disc has been played, a device, not shown in the drawing, enables the toothed wheels 12 and 13 to be brought into engagement, in such a manner that the wheel '13 makes a complete revolution, then is again disengaged. The cam 16 thus also makes acomplete revolution, during which it causes the lever '17 to oscillate through a predetermined angle about its pivotal axis 1 8. This angular movement (see position in broken lines Fig. 1) results in the axial movement or the .rod '3 upwardly. When discs to be played still remain on the shoulder ill, the movement of the rod l-9 produces a slight rotation of the pawl'8 in a counter-clockwise direction so that it displaces byits end the disc resting on vthe shoulder 11 so as to centre itrelatively to thecentralpar-t of the rod 4 and causes it to fall on to the disc turntable 1. When there are no longer any discs in reserve the balancing plate It occupies the position shown in Fig. s1. The pawl 8 is then enclosed in the lowerpart of the oentral bore of the plate Ill and for this reason, thecontrol 1% can no longer move axially in the rod 4. Ihe lever 17 controlled by the cam 16 thus raises both the-rod '19 and the rod 4. The lever 7 which -.is secured axially to the rod 4 is raised up to its upper position 7"indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1 and one cfits ends is thus on the circular path of the stop 26). The latter causes the lever '7 to pivot so that'it occupies the-position shown-inbroken lines in Pig. 2. In this position, the lever .7 controls the stopping of the talking machine-by means of -a-lcnown 'device '(not shown in the drawing).

It is of advantage that the-stopping of themachine does not take place untilafter the toothed Wheel 13 has made a complete revolution.

It will be understood that numerous modifications :may

be made. Particularly the coiled-spring 6 may be formed by any other resilient element. A device comprising a movable element may be located at any ,point between the actuating rod 19 of the ,pawl 8 and the drive of the toothed wheel 12, the rod 4 being then fixed-axially and the spring 6 and the lever .7 are eliminated. The

toothed wheel '12 may, for example, be in engagement with the turntable it, through the medium of a coupling with dog teeth provided for disengaging when the couple to be transmitted exceeds a predetermined value. When the pawl '8 is locked, the wheel "12 is thus also locked and the axial movement made by a partof the coupling for disengaging is us'ed for controlling the stopping of the machine. In this ease, the'to'othed wheel l3'does nbt complete its revolution, which must then be completed during the succeeding setting in operation.

According to a modification, the pivotal axis 18 of the lever 17 may be mounted in movable bearings, but held in position by a resilient force, the value of the latter being such that it does not produce any movement when the pawl 8 is not locked, but when the balancing plate effects the stopping of the said pawl, the action of the cam 16 produces a movement towards the right of the lever 17, against the resilient action of the said bearings, said movement being used for controlling t. e stopping of the machine.

In a form of construction similar to that shown in the drawing, the lever 7 may be connected directly to an in terruptor for controlling the stopping of the machine, but in this case also, the toothed wheel 13 does not end completely its rotation.

In the form of construction shown in the drawing, it will be clear that the spring 6 may be omitted, when the weight of the rod 4, of the balancing plate 10 and of the reserve discs is sufiicient to maintain the rod 4 in contact with the stop 5.

When the pawl 8 has a shoulder diametrically opposite the shoulder 11, the reserve discs remain substantially horizontal and it is possible to omit the balancing plate 10, and to slide a sleeve on the end of the rod 4. This sleeve thus comes to bear against the discs, and locks the pawl 8 in the same manner as the plate 10, when all the discs have fallen onto the disc turntable.

It is also possible to use the axial movement of the rod 4 for pushing a lever controlling the stopping of the machine. This will enable the stop 20 to be omitted and to replace the lever 7 by a simple washer, for example, this washer acting directly on the lever controlling the stopping of the machine.

I claim:

1. In a talking machine having an automatic record changer and a stack of reserve records thereon, the combination, comprising, a frame including a baseplate, a record turntable rotatably mounted on said baseplate, said reserve record stack being positioned above said turntable, means for mounting said turntable on said baseplate, said means being positioned between said turntable and said baseplate and being fixedly attached to said turntable, said turntable having a bore therethrough in the central portion thereof, said baseplate having a bore therethrough coincidingly positioned with respect to said bore in said turntable, a rod movably positioned in said mounting means and extending through said turntable bore, said baseplate bore, and said reserve record stack, said rod including at its top portion a shoulder means for supporting the said reserve record stack at the lowermost record thereof, said rod being hollow for at least a portion of its length, a pawl means for shifting the said lowermost record laterally from said shoulder means onto said turntable, said pawl means being pivotally mounted on said rod at a point thereon between said turntable and said shoulder means and having its free end slightly above said shoulder means, a stop member axially secured to and positioned about said rod at its lower portion beneath said baseplate, a first means for causing said pawl means to swing about its pivot, said first means being slidably positioned in the hollow portion of said rod, a record balancing plate means for maintaining said reserve record stack substantially horizontally with respect to the vertical axis of said rod and for holding said pawl means in locked position after the lateral shifting of the last lowermost record of said reserve stack from said shoulder means onto said turntable, said balancing plate means being slidably positioned about said rod above said shoulder means, and a second means for causing said first means to slide in said rod during the maintaining by said record balancing plate means of said reserve record stack substantially horizontally with respect to the vertical axis of said rod and for causing 4 the simultaneous movement of the first means and the rod, during the holding of the said pawl means in locked position by said record balancing plate means after the lateral shifting of the last lowermost record of said reserve stack from said shoulder means onto said turntable, through said baseplate bore, through said turntable mounting means, and through said turntable bore, said stop member moving with said rod said second means being operatively connected to said turntable and to said baseplate, whereby the record balancing plate means locks the pawl after the dropping of the last record from said shoulder means so that further movement of said first means will cause movement of said rod and said stop member, thereby stopping the talking machine.

2. In a talking machine having an automatic record changer and a stack of reserve records thereon, the combination, comprising, a frame including a baseplate, a record turntable rotatably mounted on said baseplate, said reserve record stack being positioned above said turntable, means for mounting said turntable on said baseplate, said means being positioned between said turntable and said baseplate and being fixedly attached to said turntable, said turntable having a bore therethrough in the central portion thereof, said baseplate having a bore therethrough coincidingly positioned with respect to said bore in said turntable, a first rod movably positioned in said mounting means and extending through said turntable bore, said baseplate bore, and said reserve record stack, said first rod including at its top portion a shoulder means for supporting said reserve record stack at the lowermost record thereof, said first rod being hollow for at least a portion of its length, a pawl means for shifting the said lowermost record laterally from said shoulder means onto said turntable, said pawl means being pivotally mounted on said first rod at a point thereon between said turntable and said shoulder means and having its free end slightly above said shoulder means, a first means for causing said pawl means to swing about its pivot, said first means including a second rod slidably positioned in the hollow portion of said first rod, a record balancing plate means for maintaining said reserve record stack substantially horizontally with respect to the vertical axis of said first rod and for holding said pawl means in locked position after the lateral shifting of the last lowermost record of said reserve stack from said shoulder means onto said turntable, said balancing plate means being positioned about said first rod above said shoulder means, an abutment means for stopping downward move ment of said first rod, said abutment means being fixedly attached to said baseplate and positioned about and in spaced relationship with said second rod, whereby said second rod may freely move through said abutment means, a resilient means for urging said first rod at its lower end against said abutment means, a first stop member axially secured to and positioned about said first rod at its lower portion between said baseplate and said abutment means, and a second means for causing said second rod to slide in said first rod during the maintaining by said record balancing plate means of said reserve record stack substantially horizontally with respect to the vertical axis of said first rod and for causing the simultaneous movement of the second rod and the first rod, during the holding of the said pawl means in locked position by said record balancing plate means after the lateral shifting of the last lowermost record of said reserve stack from said shoulder means onto said turntable, through said baseplate bore, through said turntable mounting means, and through said turntable bore, said first stop member moving with said first rod said second means including a shaft rotatably mounted in said baseplate, the vertical axis of said shaft being parallel to the vertical axes of said first and second rods, means mounted at one end of said shaft for operatively connecting said turntable mounting means with said shaft, whereby said shaft is caused to rotate with said turntable upon said latter means being operatively connected to said mounting means, a cam mounted on the other end of said shaft, a second stop member mounted on said cam, and a pivotally mounted knee lever operatively engaging said cam and said second rod, whereby the record balancing plate 5 means locks the pawl after the dropping of the last record from said shoulder means so that further movement of said second rod will cause movement of said first rod and said first stop member, to engage said first stop member with said second stop member thereby stopping the 10 talking machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Compare Aug. 24,

Pressley Dec. 21,

Jahncke July 20,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Jan. 28,

France Feb. 12, 

